Whilst travelling with children in a vehicle it is important that the children are correctly strapped in place.
The rules governing types of strapping provisions required for children whilst travelling vary in different countries.
In some countries a child must travel in a child seat, whereas in others a small child may be legally carried in the arms of the parent. Some countries also specify a direction in which children of certain weights or heights should face whilst travelling and in what position in the car they may be placed for example in the passenger seat or back seat therefore the equipment required may vary from place to place.
Parents or carers, or users, are always keen to provide the highest safety measures possible for their children however the varying laws in different countries may mean that they cannot always guarantee that their preferred travel arrangements will be available or that they will have the necessary equipment with them
Also when abroad and particularly when travelling, it may not always be viable or possible to carry a home-standard child seat and therefore an alternative must be sought.
The present invention therefore arose in order to overcome problems associated with travelling with children in vehicles when standardised child travel arrangements are not available, and a user desires a standardised or familiar arrangement the user can trust; particularly where no arrangements for children are not feasible or are unavailable and a user does not feel comfortable or needs reassurance.
Granted U.S. Pat. No. 7,618,097 (GHATGE) discloses a vehicle seat belt guide comprising a support body having at least one anchor position and a belt diverter supported by and selectively positionable relative to the support body, said support body being of a substantially elongated form and substantially rigid, the or each said anchor position of the support body being adapted in use to engage with and be supported by a support member extending from a vehicle seat back to a headrest and said support body comprising a guide formation which extends along at least a part of the length of the elongate support body whereby, in use, and with the support body extending substantially perpendicular to the normal direction of travel of the vehicle, the seat belt diverter is movable laterally relative to the direction in which the support member extends from a vehicle seat back to a headrest, the seat belt guide further comprising clamping means to secure the belt diverter in a required position relative to the support body.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,769,938 (HUDZIAK) discloses an infant's garment having an elongated shirt like body, said shirt like body comprising a covering for the shoulders and torso of an infant including a front side and a back side, said shirt like body having a neck opening at one end and a crotch portion in the other end, manually releasable snap means joined to said other end for attaching said crotch portion to a mating ring member that is joined to the shirt like body below said neck opening near the center of the back side of said garment, means for enlarging the neck opening to allow passage of the infant's head therethrough and for thereafter closing the neck opening, a pair of waist encircling band portions, each of said waist encircling band portions being attached to opposite sides of the front side and the back side of said garment at the central portion of said garment for securing the garment around the waist of the infant, and means comprising a pair of snap connected leashes attached to said waist encircling band portions for tying the infant in place.
Granted European patent EP 1 565 091 (BERGKVIST) discloses a child harness that includes a child carrying pouch which is positioned on the front side of the harness, so as to be supported on the chest side of the wearer, and that further includes two strap loops which pass around respective shoulders of the wearer, wherein the loops are mutually fastened by means of a fastener means on the rear side of the harness, characterised in that the strap of each loop has a longitudinally extending thickened edge on the mutually adjacent edges of the loops on the rear side of the harness; and in that the fastener means has along each of two opposite edges an undercut groove which slidingly receives a respective edge thickening of the adjacent strap loops, therewith allowing the fastener means to slide along the straps of the loops.
In contrast the present invention provides a highly portable and flexible means of providing child safety in a myriad of vehicles both with arrangements for child safety and with none, and more particularly provides a safety conscious, portable and simple-to-use alternative to as user simply holding baby on their lap whenever a dedicated infant seat is not available.